From: "Louis R. Coatney"
Subject: DARK CRUSADE ... Designer's notes. (Small revision)
As described in my Jul/Aug92 article in FIRE & MOVEMENT,
DARK CRUSADE was a great hope ... and a great disappointment.
The game was conceived as a fast, simple, 2-player point-to-
point corps/army level game about the Russian Front in World
War II. My original design was just of infantry, armored
infantry, armored, and cavalry units, as in the old Avalon
Hill classic STALINGRAD. However, enthusiasm grew for an
"advanced game" order of battle with considerably more.
Keith Poulter/3W wanted to publish the game as soon as he heard
my ideas about it. This was a mistake on my part. NEVER
approach a publisher with a game *idea* ... or outline. Have
it in finished form to the extent that you are ready to sell
it photocopied. In any case, publisher's deadlines reared
their ugly, sinister heads, and the pressure was on. Wisely,
I kept my copyright to the game.
Keith assigned Ty Bomba to the game as developer. At that
time, I think Ty was more of a designer than an editor, and
he had his own ideas about what the game should be. Since
I was in Alaska and they were there together in California,
I wasn't available to consult, and I began to feel like I was
losing control of the game design. For example, I had the
daily situation maps for the German Wehrmacht, Jun-Dec41, on
Library of Congress Map Room microfilm (and available to
anyone to purchase, then or now). This showed the disposition
of German Army units down to independent brigade/regiment
level on the Russian Front. (Things get sketchy, along toward
December, I might add. :-) ) It was a *primary source*, the
"mother lode," research-wise. However, Ty had been impressed
with the order-of-battles being sold by some fellow out of
Pennsylvania, and he acquired control of the Axis order of
battle.
I shouldn't be too hard on Ty. Things were hectic for him, too.
I *finally* express-mailed him a revision of the rules, one
time, and he called me up that (Saturday) evening to say they
hadn't arrived, and he needed them before he went on a trip.
I had worked in the post office, and so I told him just to go
down to the back loading dock of his (Venice, CA) post office
and ask one of the guys there to cut him a break. A couple of
hours later, I got a rather irate and traumatized call from Ty,
who said the dockworker he had encountered had threatened to
call the police and have him shot on sight! (Alaska and Illinois
postal workers are nicer, it seems. :-) ) ... and he didn't
get the revision in time.
Ty also came up with the "Dark Crusade" title, and one of his
proposed revisions stimulated me into the breakthrough-as-an-
inverse-function-of-duration-of-combat mechanic which encourages
even hopelessly outnumbered defenders to hold on for as many rounds
of combat as possible.
Keith was rushing to finish the game (and a couple of others, I
believe) in time for Origins 1984 in Dallas, Texas, that year.
As a result, I didn't get a chance to proof the components,
and when I finally saw the game in Dallas, I went into far
deeper shock than any of its disapponted purchasers. The
mistakes in the map, counters, and rules were innumerable.
Fortunately, I didn't find Ty there. :-)
An interested DARK CRUSADE player at Origins 84 was Craig Taylor
of Avalon Hill, which came out with the hex-game RUSSIAN FRONT
soon thereafter.
To Keith's credit, he attempted to rectify DC's mis-publishing
with a "second edition." However, Bill Carnes -- a good
fellow who had been enthusiastic about the game in Dallas --
got the chance to redo the rules. Fortunately, he sent me
his draft, before sending it to me, and it was apparent he
didn't understand some of the game's basic principles. At
considerable cost in personal and family time, I rewrote a
substantial part of what he had done and sent it back to him.
However, when the second edition came out, I received no
credit -- let alone money -- for the rewrite. (To Keith's
credit, I *did* receive everything he owed me in designer's
royalties/fees for the first edition.)
I also spent an incredible amount of time trying to answer the
questions of the game's purchasers, who loved the game but
were doubly frustrated by all of its glitches.
Eventually, Keith donated his remaining copies to a mental
hospital (I think), and publishing rights returned to *me*.
On Consim-L, I asked Ty Bomba if he had any interest in re-
publishing the game and doing it right this time, but
(typically) I received no response.
The "basic game" is a *lot* of fun, in any case, and
surprisingly "realistic." I think Randy Hoffa, of C-in-C
Castings -- 1:2400 and 1:4800 miniature warships and an
equally large line of 1:285 miniature tanks, etc. -- in
Fridley, Minnesota, may still have copies, as do I.
Lou Coatney, mslrc@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu
309/836-1447